


Sunday Afternoons

by OhWilloTheWisp



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-10 00:36:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7823413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhWilloTheWisp/pseuds/OhWilloTheWisp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jupiter and Caine go for a picnic on a Sunday afternoon</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunday Afternoons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [commanderlurker (honeybee592)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybee592/gifts).



The sun was shining as they walked down the sidewalk of the park.  The thrum of life all around her.  It had been her idea, Jupiter wanted to introduce Caine to the whole human experience, and she had been horrified when she discovered that he had never been on a picnic.  It was tragic really, such a simple pleasure, and yet he had never been a part of it.  So she had waited until she had a free Sunday afternoon, and convinced Caine to come with her to her favorite park. 

A man stood on the corner with a cart selling ice cream and one child was in such a hurry she almost ran into Jupiter’s legs in her eagerness to get by.  She watched after the child, not able to help her wistful smile.  Her mind drifted to daydreams of walking down this same path with Caine and their children one day.  It was nice a thought, perhaps not a responsibility she was quite ready for, but it didn’t hurt to imagine.

When she looked over she saw Caine watching her intently, it was the look he had when he was trying to figure her out and couldn’t seem to quite decide how to solve the mystery of her.

“What?” She asked raising one eyebrow in a quizzical look. 

“Does it bother you?  That they don’t know?”

“Does it bother me that who doesn’t know what?”  She felt like she was coming into the middle of a conversation that she apparently was supposed to have been a part of.

“Does it bother you that no one knows who you are, or what you did for them?  Without you none of this would exist, this world would be doomed.  You saved them all, and you are their queen, but none of them treat you like one.”

She couldn’t help scoffing at the idea, “It doesn’t bother me at all.  The last thing I want is to be treated like a royal, if the Abraxsis children are any indication of what happens when one grows up like that, I want none of it.  I like it this way.  People don’t need to know that the Earth has a queen, it’s better if they go about their lives, living as they choose, ignorant to what’s beyond.  I didn’t save the world because it belonged to me, I saved it because humans are worth saving.”

She watched a couple walk by holding hands and she couldn't be blamed if she felt a _little_ smug, she was after all, their queen, and she had in fact saved them.  It did bring her a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that she was queen of the world.  “I do wonder sometimes; what people would think if they knew.  I wonder what my clients would think if they knew the person cleaning their toilets was their queen.  But I don’t think the world is ready for that.”

“Do you think they ever be ready to know what’s beyond their limited understanding of the universe?”  Caine asked.

She would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it.  It did seem somewhat unfair that she was able to see the truth of the universe in all it’s glory and all it’s horror, but so many others were left ignorant.  “I think someday, I don’t think that day is too far off.  But I think for now it’s better that people don’t know.  I like to think I’ll live to see the day people first come to understand there is so much more out there than what they could have ever imagined.”

Caine nodded his ascent, and Jupiter started walking again, knowing Caine would follow.  She led him to the spot she had picked out, it was near the line of trees, in the sun, but excluded enough to offer a certain amount of privacy.  She spread out the blanket on the ground and Caine set down the basket he had insisted on carrying.  Jupiter had proven that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Caine still insisted on acting as body guard.  If anyone even looked suspiciously at her he was on alert, ready to protect his queen.

A bumble flew lazily from one flower to the next.  Jupiter held out her hand and the bee gently alighted on the tip of her finger, it sat still as if waiting for orders.  There were certain advantages of being queen, and controlling bees was one thing that had yet to grow old.  She moved her hand up, allowing the bee to fly off, probably to report back to its colony over its encounter with a royal.  She liked to think that was a big deal in the bee community.

She helped Caine set out the food across the blanket, and no sooner had they laid out their spread than she noticed unwelcome guests attempting to intrude on their otherwise idyllic picnic.  A line of ants was headed straight for their food.  Jupiter put her hand down in front of the line and all the ants immediately stopped and turned direction, off to annoy other park goers.  It would seem bees weren’t the only insect that acknowledged royalty.  “It looks like there are some perks to being queen,” she observed.

“It would appear that ants have a keener sense than humans in that regard.”  Caine said.

“I suppose it would be nice if I could wave my hand and make lines disappear or crowds part for me.  But then, there would be endless paparazzi and all that political intrigue to deal with.  I think I’ll settle for bees and ants being the only ones that know I’m royal.

“Not the only ones, your highness.”  It still gave Jupiter a thrill when he called her that.  And it made it better that Caine was one of the few that knew that side of her, a secret they shared.

He sat up straighter and she studied him, he look uncharacteristically nervous.

“You highness, Jupiter.  I’d like you to be my wife and I spoke with Stinger and I believe this is the customary way one asks Earth.”

He produced a ring from his pocket, the band was a smooth gold, but it was the stone that stood out.  It was a smooth black stone filled with specks of white and silver and blue that caught the light, a tiny galaxy in itself. 

“It is quite common,” Caine said, sounding uncertain, “to most it would be considered to have very little value.  But I thought you would appreciate it’s beauty.  You see a beauty in the world where others cannot.”

She didn’t reply, leaning in the kiss him, giving him all the answer he needed.  He slipped the ring onto her finger and she looked at the way it glittered in the sun.  Of all the wonders she had discovered the universe to hold, none of them compared to the love she had with Caine.


End file.
